'300: Rise Of An Empire' Trailer: A Wind of Freedom, a Wind of Justice, a Wind of Vengeance

Zack Snyder's "300," at the time a revolutionary marriage of technology and storytelling that brought Frank Miller's beloved cult comic book to vivid life, isn't exactly something that begged for a sequel. Sure, it made a whole bunch of mone,y but the story seemed kind of over since, you know (spoiler alert), everybody died. Well, calmer heads and studio executives prevailed and next spring we'll be getting a sequel/prequel/something called "300: Rise of an Empire." And guess what? It's got a cool new trailer!

The trailer starts out with some ponderous narration by the Queen Regent herself, Lena Headey (who played Gerard Butler's wife in the first film) and a brief glimpse of Butler! Rodrigo Santoro is back as decadent King Xerxes, and this time he's joined by Eva Green, who is history's sexiest naval strategist, claiming that she will attack the Greeks by boat (she also fires arrows like Katniss Everdeen).

Then there's about a minute of all-out ass kicking, with boats colliding, villages burning, and all sorts of slow motion, speed-ramping, computer-generated carnage. There's also a shot of a horse going into the ocean and then coming back out. Take that "Lone Ranger!"

The movie, this time directed by Noam Murro (Snyder produced and co-wrote), does seem kind of like "300" on the high seas, exemplified by a recent poster which is centered around a bloody, oceanic crest. This one will be in 3D and feature music by British electronic artists Junkie XL, so it could push the last film's pornographically violent videogame aesthetic even further. Count us in. For Sparta!!!!